2016年11月23日 星期三

Gerber Baby

Fremont Canning Company, owned and operated by Daniel Edwards and his distant cousin Kureem Edwards was looking for a baby face for its new baby-food campaign that was to start in the latter part of 1928.[2] To find a baby face that it believed would best represent the new baby food, the Fremont Canning Company conducted a contest in the summer of 1928.[3] Many drawings and paintings were submitted. Some were elaborate baby portraits in oil paint, while others were simple sketches.[4]

Dorothy Hope Smith of Westport, Connecticut, an artist specializing in children’s drawings, submitted an unfinished charcoal drawing that was closer to a simple sketch than a professional drawing.[4] Smith told the judges that, if the sketch were selected as the winner, she would finish it professionally.[3] The drawing won but, to her surprise, the judges wanted no changes to it.[5]

In 1928 the “Gerber Baby” symbol was introduced to help identify the new product.[6] It was first used in a baby-food advertisement in Good Housekeeping magazine. Within sixty days, Gerber Strained Foods, using the “Gerber Baby” symbol, had gained national recognition, being distributed to various places throughout the United States.[7] It became internationally recognized.[2]